The Roosevelt Era Franklin D. Roosevelt became the thirty-second president of the U.S. in 1933. He was one of the most skillful political leaders and it showed as he led the people out of the Great Depression. The U.S. was in a state of depression when Roosevelt took office, but through his New Deal program, the federal government became much more involved socially and economically in peoples' lives in contrast to its traditionally passive role. The government's responsibilities in peoples' lives changed and individuals' responsibilities changed too. The role of the government in peoples' lives expanded greatly during the New Deal era. When Roosevelt took office, his main goal was to provide relief for the country. He thought there were three key elements to getting out of the depression: relief, recovery, and reform. As part of his relief program, he passed the Federal Emergency Relief Act which authorized half of a billion dollars for relief to be distributed through the states and municipalities. Roosevelt emphasized the two most controversial pieces of legislation which became the heart of the recovery program: the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) and the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA). The main purposes of the AAA were to subsidize farmers while trying to reduce crippling agricultural surpluses. The AAA provided payments to farmers in return for agreements to cut down the acreage of their production. This would help get rid of the surpluses of food. However, the act was declared unconstitutional in 1936. But, in 1938, after several changes, a second Agricultural Adjustment Act was passed. The government also lent money to farmers to enable them to withhold crops from the market when ... ... middle of paper ... ...nment went from being passive to having much responsibilities in the lives of the people. Most of what Roosevelt did was to better the economy and benefit the people. Most of the laws he passed had to do with his three r's: relief, recovery, and reform. Roosevelt took the presidency during a rough time period, but through the New Deal, the government greatly expanded into the lives of the people and led them out of depression. Works Cited - Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: Into the Storm. New York: Random House, 1993. - Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: The New Deal Years 1933-1937. New York: Random House, 1986. - Freidel, Frank. Franklin D. Roosevelt. New York: Random House, 1990. - Morgan, Ted. FDR: A Biography. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. - Roberts, Peter. The Fireside Chats of FDR. Westport, Connecticut: Mass Communications, 1973.
Along with employment recovery, FDR continued to focus on farming relief and recovery. On June 16, 1933, the Emergency Farm Mortgage Act was signed in the hope that it would save farms for those behind on their loans. The overall goal was to defer their loans and offer emergency financing to qualif...
Still, Roosevelt's historical reputation is deservedly high. In attacking the Great Depression he did much to develop a partial welfare state in the United States and to make the federal government an agent of social and economic reform. His administration indirectly encouraged the rise of organized labor and greatly invigorated the Democratic party. His foreign policies, while occasionally devious, were shrewd enough to sustain domestic unity and the allied coalition in World War II. Roosevelt was a president of stature.
The traditional view of Franklin D. Roosevelt is that he motivated and helped the United States during the “Great Depression” and was a great president, however, as time has passed, economist historians have begun analyzing Roosevelt’s presidency. Many have concluded that he did not help America during the Great Depression but instead amplified and prolonged the depression. Jim Powell wrote about FDR economic policies and did an excellent job explaining Roosevelt’s incompetent initiatives. Roosevelt did not know anything about economics and his advisors made everything worse by admiring the Soviet Union.
Though unorthodox, the First New Deal had generated a degree of economic restoration back to the United States thus relieving the public need. There were various acts in help make the First New Deal to become a success, including National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) and Emergency Banking Relief Act. The former measure was a key number in the New Deal’s program, which Roosevelt himself called it "'the most important and far-reaching legislation ever enacted by the American Congress.'". The NIRA ...
President Franklin Roosevelt was one of the greatest presidents in the history of the United States. He created economic stability when the United States was suffering through the Great Depression. In his first three months of office, known as the Hundred Days, Roosevelt took immediate action to help the struggling nation.1 "In a period of massive unemployment, a collapsed stock market, thousands of banks closing for lack of liquidity, and agricultural prices fallen below the cost of production," Roosevelt passed a series of relief measures.2 These relief measures, known as the New Deal, provided help for individuals and businesses to prevent bankruptcy. Also, the New Deal is responsible for social security, welfare, and national parks. A further reason why Roosevelt is considered a great president is because he was a good role model for being determined in his...
The Great Depression, beginning in the last few months of 1929, impacted the vast majority of people nationwide and worldwide. With millions of Americans unemployed and many in danger of losing their homes, they could no longer support their families. Children, if they were lucky, wore torn up ragged clothing to school and those who were not lucky remained without clothes. The food supply was scarce, and bread was the most that families could afford. Households would receive very limited rations of food, or small amounts of money to buy food. This led to the starvation of families, including children. African-americans faced tougher challenges than most during the Depression due to discrimination. The classes hit hardest were middle-class
Both of these presidencies changed the fabric of American society by bringing the country as a whole through incredibly difficult issues, and showing how, with government intervention, the economy can be brought back up even through the toughest of times. For example, it was primarily because of FDR’s CCC plan that millions of men received jobs during the Great Depression, and millions were able to keep those jobs as maintenance for the infrastructure built.
When President Franklin Delano Roosevelt assumed the Presidency on March 4, 1933, he gained leadership of a deeply isolationist country struggling to survive a depression and yearning for change. When Roosevelt died twelve years and one month later, he had lifted the United States to world power status, provided recovery from economic depression, incorporated rhetoric as a means to reach the masses, and expanded the powers of the Presidency. In short, FDR had created the Modern Presidency. Through his New Deal Programs, his ability to increase the United States’ worldwide influence, his Fireside Chats, and his expansion of Presidential powers, Roosevelt became the first Modern President and established the precedent all future presidents were to follow.
The New Deal provided Americans with the assurance that things were finally changing. People were being employed, acts were passed, discrimination was addressed and women's opportunities were restored. Roosevelt's New Deal reshaped both the economy and structure of the U.S, proving it to be an extremely effective move for the American society with the economic security and benefits still being used
Leuchtenburg, William. Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal. New York: Harper and Row. 1963.
Davis, Kenneth S. FDR: The New Deal Years 1933-1939. New York: Random House Inc., 1986.
Roosevelt took office in 1933, he single handedly put together what was known as the New Deal. With the New Deal, the federal government bailed out the American people who had lost so much because of the depression that started in 1929. The New Deal put money back into the economy and put Americans back to work. If Roosevelt had not of had the federal government bail out the American people, it would’ve been the demise of the United States. The federal government helped pay for the programs of the new deal and some of these programs are still enacted today. For example, Social Security helping seniors with their retirement because they’re too old to work but still need to make a
McElvaine, Robert S. The Depression and New Deal: A History in Documents. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.
Through the AAA, Roosevelt proposed to pay farmers for cutting back on production or producing nothing at all. It was supposed to help increase farm prices by decreasing the supply. Now, the government has to deal with the existing surplus. The Roosevelt administration decided to destroy much of what had already been produced, as to create a shortage so farm prices would increase. About six million pigs were slaughtered and ten million acres of cotton were destroyed.
President Roosevelt brought the executive branch of the government into power like never before. He is hated to this day by many people. But for the majority of the country during one of our toughest times, he was what we needed. Without consulting history acknowledging that, it’s impossible to judge what he did very negatively. The old ways weren’t working, and while President Hoover tried to do something, it wasn’t enough. President Roosevelt was more successful with the actions he took for relief during the Great Depression.